CHAPTER 89: REALITY CHECK

"I can see them even more clearly now! I reckon that we have just about thirty seconds left!"

With that sudden proclamation, Yariko maintained his leadership of the Hallory Circuit group as well as Liohime Kitagami as their front line formation had now completely left the other members in the dust.

Second by second, the tightness of Lohime’s chest grew as confrontation approached. In order to completely annihilate the opposition, his long range attack had to be perfect, and he had to trust in Shihon to make the right decision.

She’s probably stressing the fuck out right now, he quietly said in his mind while thinking of Shihon, and decided to give one last word of encouragement before he issued a common when in close combat.

"I trust you, Shihon!"

"We’ll crush them together, KC!"

At the same time, Yariko and Liohime had given their final words to their Magical Beasts, and the latter took a final glance at the army in front of him.

About a dozen men advanced, some riding on Magical Beasts on and and others hanging onto those that flew in the air, strapped with various weapons.

It was only at that moment, though, when he was about to whip out his handgun, when he noticed a sharp glint from beyond them.

Within a split second, a flash of light had been picked up from his eyes from the highest floor or the Paradisus Legion Tower.

And that was when the horrifying realization struck him.

They had all been running straight into a death trap.

We’re fucked.

He opened his mouth to scream, but it was too late, as a blurred sound whizzed right past his ear-

SHKK!!

-And a moist liquid splattered across his left cheek, after which a thud was heard behind him.

There was no time to warn the others, and there was hardly any less time to act on his instinctive fear.

He naturally turned back, and the cold feeling of something bigger than dread filled his heart.

He watched the body of Jack, Yariko’s co-worker, tumble from his leopard Magical Beast and slam into the ground, rolling away as the bullet connected into his skull without warning.

Liohime’s eyes widened as numbness bloomed from within, and although only a few milliseconds passed, it was as if an eternity was present as that image looped in his brain over and over again.

Almost everyone from the group that was near him had turned, and Yariko’s eyes watered, unable to register what he had just seen as being real.

Then-

"RAHHHHHH!!!!!"

"SHIHON!!!! COVER EVERYBODY!!!"

Yariko let out a hostile war cry that echoed, and Liohime panicked, screaming at the top of his lungs while everyone else dissolved into an outcry of animosity and fear.

Shihon’s eyes darted, unable to comprehend what had happened, but vines from her back outstretched and completely covered the front view of all companions present while Jack’s Magical Beast’s contract had been terminated immediately due to his sudden death, erasing its memory completely as it stopped in its tracks.

Yariko raged wildly, and although his front view was now shielded with walls of ethereal glowing vines, he had quickly realized that the source of the attack had come from a sniper from above.

FROM THE FUCKING TOWER!! YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT!!!

One of his acquaintances had lost his life, not even a few hours into the mission. His heart had been immediately set ablaze with anger, and he bit hard on his lips, drawing blood as he vowed to destroy whoever was in the upper floors of the tower.

However, with only a few seconds of collision between the two armies, Shihon had completely blocked everyone’s vision in an attempt to shield them from aerial attacks. The nine members of the Hallory Circuit group along with Liohime were now running without any view in front of them, and then, a haughty voice cackled from above as a man flew out from the back of a serpent with wings in midair and descended towards Liohime with a knife in his hand.

"You’re toast!!" he cried, and hurled it straight at his skull, but it slashed past Liohime’s cheek as he avoided direct contact with the blade just in time.

"-hk, keep moving Shihon!!’

He quickly aimed to shoot at his opponent, but his adversary yanked his own body away from his line of fire while still in midair to his right, and whizzed past him from above before reaching for his pocket and hurling another knife at his unprotected back.

Liohime could not turn around in time, and a hot, searing pain flooded his lower body as he could feel a blade pierce into his skin with precision and power.

Just as he screamed out in pain, his body tumbled off of Shihon’s back, and the attacker hit the ground hard, but he was not done.

"VOLTAGE! NOW!!"

With that simple command, everything was pandemonium everywhere, all at once.

Yariko, with tears in his eyes, widened his pupils as he eyed Liohime’s body flying off to the side

Shihon, who felt Liohime’s weight being released off of her back, could only side-eye and watch in shock.

The other Shinigami Soldiers, including Darius who was pretty much Yariko’s right hand man now, could not hide their panic as their concentration spiralled into nothingness.

And Voltage, the serpent-like monster with wings from above, slapped its wings together, generating a lightning bolt that crashed into the group with a powerful explosive shockwave of electricity.

Most of it had collided with Shihon’s protective wall, but that did not stop damage that had stung the entire group in an instant of time, and all of the Shinigami Soldiers who had been leading the front lines of the mission had been blown back, leading to a complete stop as everyone collided hard into the earth below, both Magical Beasts and Masters.

With only a few seconds left for survival in the case of each and every member present, the perimeter of the Paradisus Legion Tower was now about to break out into a full scale warzone.